Episode 263: Dr. Ignacio Cuaranta - Sleep, Light, and Ultra-Processed Foods in Mental Health

Jan 9, 2026

Dr. Ignacio Cuaranta, a board-certified psychiatrist with a focus on sleep, light, and food timing, shares groundbreaking insights into mental health. He explores how morning light and nighttime darkness influence mood and impulse control. Cuaranta discusses the dangers of ultra-processed foods, which disrupt emotional regulation and reward systems. He emphasizes the importance of establishing consistent eating rhythms and practical strategies for protecting sleep. The conversation reveals how addressing circadian rhythms can lead to significant improvements in mental wellness.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Anchor Your Day With Morning Light

Prioritize strong morning natural light and very low evening light to entrain your central clock.
This stabilizes cortisol, insulin timing, hunger cues, and reduces amygdala hyperreactivity.

INSIGHT

Late Afternoon Is A High-Risk Window

Vulnerability to ultra-processed foods peaks in late afternoon and evening due to circadian dips and 'ego depletion.'
Combined with engineered rapid-digesting foods, this creates a high-risk window for overeating.

ADVICE

Use Time-Restricted Eating Thoughtfully

Use time-restricted eating (TRE) as a clinical tool and screening method in psychiatry.
Treat timing as a signal, not noise, and match eating windows to chronotype when possible.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

What if the biggest breakthroughs in mental health didn't start with more effort—but with better timing?

In this deeply grounding and wide-ranging conversation, we're joined by Ignacio Cuaranta, a board-certified psychiatrist whose work sits at the intersection of psychiatry, chronobiology, metabolic health, and lifestyle medicine. Trained in Argentina and working internationally, Dr. Cuaranta brings a refreshingly non-dogmatic, biology-forward lens to mental health—one that prioritizes rhythm, regulation, and compassion over blame or biohacking extremes.

Together, we explore why sleep and light exposure may be the most powerful psychiatric interventions we have, how ultra-processed foods disrupt not just metabolism but emotional regulation, and why afternoon crashes, anxiety, impulsivity, and insomnia are often rhythm problems—not personal failures.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why morning light and nighttime darkness are foundational for mood, impulse control, and nervous system regulation
How ultra-processed foods hijack reward pathways, especially when the brain is already fatigued
The overlooked role of chronobiology in psychiatry—and why timing matters as much as content
Afternoon crashes, cortisol dysregulation, and the myth of "low motivation"
Time-restricted eating as a clinical tool, not a rigid rule
Why consistency often matters more than perfection—especially for sensitive nervous systems
Sleep as a keystone habit that makes every other change more accessible
Practical, harm-reduction strategies for winter, shift work, and modern screen-heavy life
Sauna, temperature, and seasonal rhythms—what actually helps and when
Why reducing physiological "noise" can ease cravings, emotional volatility, and mental fatigue

This episode is especially supportive for anyone:

Early in recovery from ultra-processed food use
Living with anxiety, insomnia, or mood instability
Feeling exhausted by self-optimization culture
Curious about nutritional psychiatry, metabolic mental health, and nervous system regulation
Wanting evidence-informed strategies that honor individuality, sensitivity, and real life

Dr. Cuaranta reminds us that regulation is not weakness, sensitivity is not pathology, and recovery doesn't require hacking yourself into submission. Often, the most meaningful change begins by restoring order to the basics: sleep, light, food quality, and rhythm.

If you've ever felt like your nervous system is doing its best in an environment that's working against it—this conversation is for you.

💌 Email us at: foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com

The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.